1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise equipment storage apparatus, and in particular a reconfigurable shelving unit for weighted exercise equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
An ever increasing range of exercise equipment is available to gym owners for use by gym users in fitness and strength training. A wider range of exercise equipment enables a gym to provide a wider range of training facilities and to cater for a greater range of customers. Exercise equipment in a gym environment must be stored in an accessible manner such that it is freely yet safely accessible to the gym users. Given the finite space within a gym facility and the requirement to maintain as much free floor space as possible, the amount of exercise equipment a gym may provide is limited by the floor space available and efficiency with which the storage apparatus holds the equipment.
Given the diversity in the shape and size of modern exercise equipment, storage is typically individually tailored to specific equipment, with dedicated storage being required for each range of equipment. Typically storage is in the form of shelving racks. In order to maintain equipment safely in position on the shelves a retaining element is required to hold, cradle or otherwise restrain the equipment, which differ in size and orientation from equipment to equipment. It is therefore not generally possible to safely store more than one type of equipment on a given storage apparatus. As a result, the requirement to provide a wide range of different storage solutions results in storage inefficiency and limits the variety of equipment that may be provided.
In addition, should a gym owner decide to replace a range of equipment with an alternative, they must purchase a new rack to hold the alternative range of equipment, adding significantly to the cost of updating their equipment. A further disadvantage, particularly for smaller gyms that require equipment in more limited numbers, is that the number of units of each type of equipment may be significantly less than the number of units which the dedicated storage unit is configured to store. Therefore, the storage unit represents an inefficient use of space and Cost.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved exercise storage apparatus which addresses the above described problems and/or which offers improvements generally.
According to the present invention there is provided an exercise equipment storage apparatus as described in the accompanying claims.